Guilty plea in Schenectady stabbing plot on pregnant woman

Updated 1:17 pm, Friday, June 17, 2011

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Alexei Ramey of Schenectady

Alexei Ramey of Schenectady

Guilty plea in Schenectady stabbing plot on pregnant woman

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SCHENECTADY -- A Russian immigrant was trying to avoid paying future child support when he offered $500 cash and a pressure washer as payment last year to a man who he believed would abort the fetus by stabbing his pregnant ex-girlfriend, according to the prosecutor.

Alexei S. Ramey, 21, pleaded guilty Thursday in Schenectady County Court to first-degree attempted assault for "agreeing with the undercover officer to inflict injury to the child," according to Assistant District Attorney John Healy. A paternity test later showed he wasn't the father of the fetus.

Under the plea deal, Ramey, a warehouse worker, faces between 31/2 to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced Sept. 8 by Visiting Judge Richard Giardino, according to his attorney Michael Brosnan of Cobleskill.

His client also agreed to forfeit the $500 and Titan-brand pressure washer.

Ramey's would-be-victim, a Duanesburg woman who turns 20 next month, gave birth last year to a healthy baby girl named Sophia, said Healy.

"His intent wasn't to kill her, it was to abort the fetus," Healy said afterward.

Asked if the defendant suspected he might not the father, Healy said Ramey "believed there was a chance but didn't want to take that risk," partly because by then he had a new girlfriend who was also pregnant.

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They later had a child who would be born around the same time as his ex-girlfriend's child.

During Thursday's proceedings, Ramey said he regretted the incident and mentioned his rough upbringing, which included being an orphan in his homeland and living on his own since age 15, the prosecutor said.

"His motivation was that he was a very young man, who didn't have a good life, and wasn't treated well by his family," said Brosnan.

"He made a very bad judgment call that he is remorseful for and has accepted responsibility."

The plot unraveled in September when a person Ramey initially tried to hire tipped off Schenectady police and the case went to the Special Investigations Unit of the State Police.

During two meetings with an undercover police agent at Jumpin' Jack's in Scotia, Ramey made it clear he wanted the unborn child -- not the woman -- dead, Healy added.

Ramey agreed to a pay his alleged co-conspirator $2,000 but threw in the pressure washer when he could come up with only $500, said Healy.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Scotia Village Court, Ramey provided a picture and address of the woman, who was eight months pregnant.

Reach Paul Nelson can be reached at 454-5347 or by email at pnelson@timesunion.com.